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What is it about Hewlett-Packard and board chairs? From Patricia Dunn to Ray Young to Ralph Whitworth, the computer giant can’t seem to keep anyone in the position for too long. Something always gets messed up.

Whitworth, who resigned Tuesday for health reasons, was an especially interesting case. As I wrote last week, Whitworth served as “interim” chairman for 16 months, an incredible amount of time for someone filling a temporary role. As a source told me, Whitworth was apparently unhappy with the list of candidates that a headhunter presented him. HP, Whitworth had previously said, would take its time to find the right person.

No kidding.

Unfortunately for HP, it now has to appoint an interim chairman to replace the other interim chairman who was searching for the permanent chairman.

In a statement the company said “board of directors will discuss appointing a new chairman at its next board meeting.” Notice how HP said “discuss” and not “actually do.”

CEO Meg Whitman is leading HP’s turnaround plan.

Allow me to offer a suggestion: just give the job to CEO Meg Whitman. On top of her successful tenure at eBay, Whitman seems like the only person with some real clout at that company.

Appointing the same person chairman and CEO, while very common, goes against the current trend in corporate governance today. According to a report by headhunting firm Spencer Stuart, 55 percent of S&P 500 companies employed CEO/chairmen last year, compared to 77 percent in 2003.

The argument for splitting the CEO/chair roles goes like this: one of the board chair’s primary role is to supervise the CEO. Having a person supervise himself/herself would seem like a conflict of interest.

In HP’s case, keeping those two positions separate does not seem to have helped them much over the years. In fact, one can argue that the company has become even more dysfunctional because of the arrangement. HP has a habit of hiring CEOs with strong personalities: Carly Fiorina, Mark Hurd, and Whitman. That inevitably sets up some tension between the C-suite and the boardroom.

Some tension is actually a good thing. It shows the board is keeping a watchful eye on the CEO. But let’s face it: HP has been a mess these past few years. What the company needs is a strong leader who can get stuff done. As much as companies like to say there is strong collaboration between the board and CEO, HP needs a dictator, not a collaborator.

The only way for Whitman to fully execute her turnaround the plan is to give her full control over HP.